Diana Rodriguez Wallach

"Outcast Vera and popular jock Max are up against dark forces that stretch much further than their small, coastal town-and into the very heart of evil"--

Small Town Monsters

Elena M.

Society excelled at remembering the dead, but it didn’t always do so well at supporting the living.

Life was always too short. If you miscarry a baby, you wish you could have at least held him. If you rock your daughter to sleep before she passes, you wish you could have seen her first day of school. If you lose your son after graduation, you wish you could have gotten to dance at his wedding. If your daughter dies as a young woman, you wish you could have gotten to meet your grandkids. And on and on and on it goes. They were always too young.

The Conjuring meets The Vow! This terrifying paperback original tells the unputdownable story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town. Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement. Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister. When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil. Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.

laura

* I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I thought this was super fun fall read. I liked that this book is set in small town and has eerie and creepy element with possession or supernatural twist. This book was a super fast pace read. I also really did liked both characters and found the mystery that connected to the possession to be engaging mystery. I also really liked how this book explored the cult dymancis. I also liked the "other" POVs we got in this story, it reminded me a little bit of the structure of their is something inside your house. The one thing I struggled with was the romance and felt a bit instalovy to me. But def a great fall read!!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Small Town Monsters

Author: Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Latinx Ownvoice and some Latinx folklore

Recommended For...: young adult readers, cults, paranormal, demons, horror, mystery

Publication Date: September 7, 2021

Genre: YA Horror

Recommended Age: 15+ (romance, slight gore, grief, death, slight language, cults, slight religion)

Explanation of CWs: Grief and death play a role in this book. There is a little gore and language. Cults are also heavily involved with this read.

Publisher: Underlined

Pages: 336

Synopsis: Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.

Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.

When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.

Review: Oh my goodness! I absolutely loved this book! It was so well written and well plotted. The spoops are spoopy and I won’t be able to sleep good tonight. And I thought that the character development and the world building were magnificent. I also liked some of the call backs to other horror films and history, especially since this is an homage to Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The only issue I really had with the book is that it takes a bit to get into and the beginning is a bit too slow in my opinion. But it quickly gains speed and becomes amazing. I also felt that the romance was unnecessary.

Verdict: Highly recommend!

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Diana Rodriguez Wallach, Netgalley, and Underlined for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.


Whooo! This was freaking scary! I read this one because it was an #ownvoices Latine story, and I told myself that I could handle this horror story. I think I gave myself too much credit but wow I was scared the entire time.

One of my favorite things about this story was that we got to experience Latin American folklore from someone who would know as much about it as possible. It intrigued me even more, and I truly felt immersed in this story. We start with our main character Vera, whose parents happen to be demonologists. You know… studying demons? Wasn’t that in a Charmed episode? Or maybe even a Supernatural episode? Either way, when you’re messing with demons, things are going to get creepy and intense real quick.


I absolutely hate that Vera’s classmates legit make fun of her because of what her parents do. Like…? Wouldn’t you WANT a couple of demonologists on your side when things hit the fan? They don’t know what kind of resource that would be. But that’s on them. It sucks that they pretty much ostracize her, but things may end up changing when Vera has to team up with Maxwell, who starts to believe that his mother isn’t just going through grief over his father’s death… at least something not natural.


Take all that and put it in a small town setting and you get such an interesting and intricate horror story that you won’t be able to put down. I could only imagine how the audiobook would sound like. I wonder if one will be published. Check this one out!

Small Town Monsters

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